By Vance McCullough
Special to BassFan
Given the tight weights down the leaderboard and the parade of chunky Lake Hartwell largemouth that crossed the stage in Greenville, S.C. on day 1, the 2022 Bassmaster Classic may prove to be one of the most exciting editions of bass fishing’s most tradition-laden event.
Leader Bryan New made a statement with the lone 20-pound sack of the day. His success was the direct result of his decision to scrap a plan that was developing too slowly for his liking.
“I tried to get a little insurance, but I thought there was also a chance to maybe get a couple of good ones," New said. "I just realized that it was taking too long. Honestly, I think if I had started earlier doing what I wound up doing, it would have been a better morning. And the way they’re biting here on Hartwell, I feel like I can go finish out a limit later anyway.”
New said his pattern involves fishing docks and he feels like he can look at the map and pick out the right types of areas if he needs to keep expanding his water.
Kyle Welcher, in 2nd place, was caught off guard by his early success, though it helped him relax and make good decisions the rest of the day.
“I was actually fortunate today," Welcher said. "I went to a place where I thought I would most likely catch a limit and I got lucky on my first two bites, a (4 3/4-pounder) and a 2 3/4, so as soon as I did that I said, ‘We’re going for the throat. We’re not going to catch a limit of little spots’. Even though I only had two fish, it opened me up to go try new areas and fish for big fish the rest of the day.”
The warming sun helped Welcher.
“I caught two extremely key fish late in the day. I had a little spell where I didn’t get many bites and when I did, I didn’t put them in the boat, but it came back together there at the end where I was able to have a pretty good day.”
Greg Hackney, in 3rd, skipped the small security limit. He went right to where he could catch some quality fish.
“We had that wind that was blowing, and that front was passing and I was like ‘You know what? You’ve got a better chance of catching five big ones if you spend all day doing it’. I can’t tell you I’ll do that tomorrow because if we get out there and it’s slick as glass, I’ll probably have to punt.
“I just want to fish smart, to make a smart decision, and I can’t power-fish if it’s slick. It’s weather-dictated. I’m rigged to fish both ways and when we get out there in the morning, I’ll see what it’s like.”
Hackney, as did others, noted that the fish are moving, but not always in the direction anglers expected this week.
“You know, it seems like they moved back from where they were. They were up on the bank.”
Steve Kennedy's 6 1/2-pounder was the biggest fish weighed on Day 1.
Hackney said Lake Hartwell has a lot of cold water sitting in the depths and a little wind is all it takes to wash it up in the shallows and set back any progress made toward the spawn. “This place is Jekyll and Hyde.”
Steve Kennedy’s day didn’t go as planned, but at the end , he was okay with that. He’s currently in 4th place.
“I had a great practice," he said. "Outstanding. You could go into any pocket and call your cast. A 3-pounder. I don’t know if this lake is just that full of good fish or what.
“I had what I thought was a perfect pattern for 2 3/4- to 3 1/2-pound fish. I went to my first place and caught a limit. I caught 32 or 35 spotted bass but nothing that weighed 2 pounds. The biggest was 1 pound, 15 ounces,” chuckled Kennedy. “It was fun, but I’m not going in with 12 pounds. I’m not. I said, ‘I know where some better largemouth are' so I ran to them. I struggled for about 3 hours without getting a bite. I finally reverted to what I know how to do. I said, ‘Let’s go find us one’ and I got four bites down the first stretch. The fourth bite was a 4-01. Then I lost a 6-07 and I came back later, skipped up there and caught that one and said ‘Thank you, Lord!’.
That fish was the biggest to come to the scale on day 1.
“I went into another place and caught a 4 and had 15 the same size come and try to take it away from him, but I never got another bite. Once they pull off (of a piece of cover), they’re gone.”
Brock Mosley (5th) caught only largemouth, four of them after 10:30, but he pursued bigger bites from the beginning.
“I was just fishing around shallow, dirty water and I just made it work. I think some more are moving in, I hope they are at least.”
Mosley sees no need to cull through a bunch of spotted bass that won't help him.
“With no points involved, I’m just going right after them. I don’t know if I can catch a limit tomorrow, but I knew if I wanted to win, my best shot was to go up there and see how many 4-pounders I can catch.”
Patrick Walters (6th) thought his starter limit would be composed of kicker fish to begin with.
“I was catching some good largemouth, hammering 3 1/2-pound fish (in practice) schooling up on herring, but I only caught small spotted bass doing that this morning. As the day progressed and it got warmer, the bite got better. I caught 30 or 40 fish today but I think the limit hole isn’t going to hold up much longer. The weather is warming up and the fish are heading shallow.”
Chris Zaldain made a decision on the water that put a big bass (over 4 pounds) in the boat and illustrates the mindset needed to win. Though he sits in 12th after Day 1, he could be dangerous.
“At takeoff I was all in on a big swimbait, but when you’re out there and it's cold and the sun’s not up yet and the conditions are not quite right for the swimbait, I pulled out an old-school crankbait like we use out west, on Lake Mead and Lake Havasu, an old Wiggle Wart type bait, fished on light line along a chunk clay bank with little secondary points.”
The result was catch that will make the highlight reel.
“You can plan, but in a three-day period over the course of the Classic, nothing ever goes according to plan. The guy who wins this week is definitely going to go through different baits adjustments.”
Day 1 Standings
1. Bryan New -- Saluda, SC -- 5, 20-00 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 20-00
2. Kyle Welcher -- Opelika, AL -- 5, 18-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-13
3. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 5, 18-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-09
3. Steve Kennedy -- Auburn, AL -- 5, 18-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-09
5. Brock Mosley -- Collinsville, MS -- 5, 18-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-07
6. Patrick Walters -- Summerville, SC -- 5, 18-02 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 18-02
7. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 5, 17-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-06
8. Stetson Blaylock -- Benton, AR -- 5, 17-05 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-05
9. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 5, 17-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-01
9. -- Marc Frazier -- Newnan, GA -- 5, 17-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 17-01
11. Lee Livesay -- Longview, TX -- 5, 16-14 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-14
12. Chris Zaldain -- Fort Worth, TX -- 5, 16-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-13
13. Jared Miller -- Norman, OK -- 5, 16-11 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-11
14. Joey Nania -- Cropwell, AL -- 5, 16-10 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-10
15. John Cox -- DeBary, FL -- 5, 16-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-09
16. Justin Hamner -- Northport, AL -- 5, 16-08 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-08
17. Hunter Shryock -- Ooltewah, TN -- 5, 16-03 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-03
18. Austin Felix -- Eden Prairie, MN -- 5, 16-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 16-01
19. David Mullins -- Mt Carmel, TN -- 5, 15-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-13
20. Matt Arey -- Shelby, NC -- 5, 15-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-12
21. Scott Martin -- Clewiston, FL -- 5, 15-09 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-09
22. Cory Johnston -- Cavan, ON -- 5, 15-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-06
23. Daisuke Aoki -- Minamitsurugun, JAPAN -- 5, 15-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-01
24. Luke Palmer -- Coalgate, OK -- 5, 15-00 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 15-00
25. Caleb Sumrall -- New Iberia, LA -- 5, 14-11 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-11
26. Buddy Gross -- Chatanooga, TN -- 5, 14-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-07
27. Brandon Card -- Salisbury, NC -- 5, 14-05 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-05
28. Wes Logan -- Springville, AL -- 5, 14-03 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-03
29. Tristan McCormick -- Burns, TN -- 5, 14-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 14-01
30. Brandon Lester -- Fayetteville, TN -- 5, 13-15 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-15
30. Chad Pipkens -- Dewitt, MI -- 5, 13-15 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-15
32. Taylor Smith -- Valleyford, WA -- 5, 13-13 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-13
33. Nick LeBrun -- Bossier City, LA -- 5, 13-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-12
34. Chris Johnston -- Otonabee, ON -- 5, 13-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-07
34. Matt Robertson -- Kuttawa, KY -- 5, 13-07 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-07
36. Taku Ito -- Chiba, JAPAN -- 5, 13-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-06
37. Bryan Schmitt -- Deale, MD -- 5, 13-02 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 13-02
38. Shane Powell -- Dothan, AL -- 5, 12-14 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 12-14
39. Jeff Gustafson -- Keewatin, ON -- 5, 12-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 12-12
40. Brandon Palaniuk -- Rathdrum, ID -- 5, 12-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 12-01
41. Hank Cherry Jr -- Lincolnton, NC -- 5, 12-00 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 12-00
42. John Crews Jr -- Salem, VA -- 5, 11-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 11-12
43. Drew Benton -- Blakely, GA -- 5, 11-12 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 11-12
44. Seth Feider -- New Market, MN -- 5, 11-11 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 11-11
45. Jacob Powroznik -- North Prince George, VA -- 5, 11-04 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 11-04
46. Shane LeHew -- Catawba, NC -- 5, 11-01 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 11-01
47. Joshua Stracner -- Vandiver, AL -- 5, 11-00 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 11-00
48. Brandon Cobb -- Greenwood, SC -- 5, 10-14 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 10-14
48. Drew Cook -- Cairo, GA -- 5, 10-14 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 10-14
50. Tyler Rivet -- Raceland, LA -- 5, 09-08 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 09-08
51. KJ Queen -- Catawba, NC -- 5, 09-06 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 09-06
52. Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 4, 09-00 -- 0
Day 1: 4, 09-00
53. Matty Wong -- Honolulu, HI -- 5, 08-14 -- 0
Day 1: 5, 08-14
54. Ray Hanselman Jr -- Del Rio, TX -- 3, 07-07 -- 0
Day 1: 3, 07-07
55. Keith Tuma -- Brainerd, MN -- 2, 04-04 -- 0
Day 1: 2, 04-04
